The Lakota People’s Law Project has released a 35-page report entitled “The New Boarding Schools: Racial Biases in the State of South Dakota Continue to Fuel Constant, Willful Violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act.” “The New Boarding Schools” examines the dynamics which foster consistent corruption in the state of South Dakota when it comes to their relations to the Lakota people. A major thread in our findings was the financial incentives which fuel the fire of institutionalized abuse against Natives.

Figures detailed in our report show just how reliant South Dakota’s economy is on the federal money received to fund their Department of Social Services (DSS). A staggering approximation of $63,000,000 is received annually, determined in proportion to the Department of Social Services’ yearly activity.

Former state governor William Janklow once told NPR reporter Laura Sullivan that this funding is “incredibly important” to South Dakota, going on to say, “I mean look, we’re…